Novelty balloons are widely used to celebrate various special occasions, such as birthdays, anniversaries, Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, Father's Day, baby showers, wedding showers, etc. Inflated novelty balloons can be purchased from any number of vendors, including grocery stores, discount stores, and specialty stores. The purchased balloons are then transported to the intended recipient.
Conventional methods for acquiring and transporting inflated novelty balloons have many disadvantages. Because balloons deflate over time, inflated novelty balloons are generally purchased the day of a special occasion and hand delivered to an intended location. Consumers may be too busy to make a special trip for a novelty balloon on that special day, making such last minute purchases inconvenient. In addition, transporting inflated balloons to an intended destination is often difficult. Weather conditions, i.e., wind, may make it difficult to control the inflated balloons. The buoyancy of the novelty balloons, due to the helium used to inflate the balloons, may also reduce window and/or mirror visibility in an automobile. Further, if a recipient lives in another city or state, it is impractical to hand deliver a novelty balloon. Because consumers cannot currently purchase a balloon kit with a helium cylinder that can be legally mailed within the United States, such long-distance consumers have few options.
To address these difficulties, many specialty stores offer delivery service, for a fee, to deliver one or more inflated balloons to a desired location on a particular day. Because such services are expensive and often require significant advanced planning, this solution is not always attractive to a thrifty and/or busy consumer.
Therefore, there is a need for a balloon kit packaged in a small package that provides a portable helium source for inflating one or more balloons at a convenient time and/or location.